Evolution Of Knowledge: Transformations And Universals

该项目有两个主要好处：关于语言演变的基本科学成果和可以为图形通信工具的设计提供信息的应用成果。语言的进化是当代科学中争论最激烈的问题之一，但迄今为止它还没有经过实验检验。该项目开发了一种实验方法，可以检查人类知识在几代教师和学习者之间演变的过程。此外，通过检查进化的最终内容，并确定公共进化中出现的图形符号类型，该项目可以为图形通信工具（例如路标）的未来设计提供信息。

This project has two principal benefits: A basic scientific outcome concerning the evolution of language and an applied outcome that can inform the design of graphical communication tools. The evolution of language is one of the most hotly debated issues in contemporary science, but to date it has escaped experimental examination. This project develops an experimental methodology that permits examination of the processes by which human knowledge evolves across generations of teachers and learners. In addition, by also examining the final content of evolution, and by determining what type of graphical symbols emerge out of communal evolution, the project can inform the future design of graphical communication tools (e.g., road signs).